City dwellers want out?

[jtwestside]

Pew: Almost half of Americans want to live somewhere else
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2009-01-29-where-we-live_N.htm#comment
By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY

Living in Las Vegas appeals more to men than women. Affluent adults are twice as likely as poorer folks to want to live in Boston. Young people like big cities such as New York and Los Angeles. More Americans would rather live in a place with more McDonald's than one with more Starbucks.

Those are some of the findings of a Pew Research Center survey out today on where Americans would most like to live. Whether they favor cities, suburbs or the countryside, almost half wish they lived somewhere else, the report found. City dwellers are more likely to dream of living somewhere else, and men in rural areas are far happier living there than women.

"There are some more fundamental differences between men and women," says Rich Morin, senior editor of the Pew Research Center survey. "Different cities seem to appeal to different partisan ideological groups. … People who are drawn to cities are typically younger people."

Denver, San Diego and Seattle are the top picks of the 30 largest metropolitan areas. Denver is the favorite city among Republicans, and it also rates well with Democrats and independents.

"It's a city that ranks high on most of the lists," Morin says. "It's a new city, a growing city, a younger city on what most people would perceive as the doorstep of God's country — the Rocky Mountains."

The telephone survey of 2,260 adults conducted in October uncovers new attitudes and confirms age-old trends, including gaps in age, gender and political ideology:

• In addition to Denver, favorite cities among Republicans are Phoenix, Orlando and San Antonio. Half of all liberals would like to live in San Francisco, more than double the share of conservatives. San Diego, once a bastion of conservatism, appeals to Democrats, liberals and moderates. "Good weather and the beach triumphs over ideology," Morin says.

• The West and South are more enticing regions than the Northeast and Midwest.

• 46% would prefer to live in a different type of community from the one they now reside. Adults 50 to 64 who live in cities are the least likely to say they live in the ideal place; two-thirds of those in that age group who live in the country say they couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

• Young people are the opposite: 57% of urban dwellers younger than 30 say the city is where they want to live.

'I love it here'

When Joe Higginbotham goes to town, he never runs into traffic jams. He never has to circle to find a parking spot. And he never has to worry about safety. "I can park my car in the street, get out, leave the keys in the ignition," says Higginbotham, 57, a retired instrument engineer for a large paper company. He runs errands at the bank, store and post office and makes a stop at the local saloon and "nobody bothers anything. … I love it here."

What Higginbotham calls "his little piece of heaven" is Palisade, Colo., 15 miles east of Grand Junction. Population: 2,793. Traffic light: one.

Higginbotham is among the 52% of Americans who are happy where they are, according to the Pew survey.

When Higginbotham sits on the deck of the barn-styled home he built in the middle of a pear orchard, he has no doubt he is where he wants to be.

"Happily divorced" and his kids grown, he is thrilled with the laid-back lifestyle in a small town. Yet he is 20 minutes from an airport and a mall and within 2 miles of nine wineries. He has one request: "Just don't tell the Californians."

City dwellers want out

"City residents disproportionately are more likely than people living in other types of communities to say they would prefer to live in a place other than a city," Morin says. "Fewer than half of all city residents say there is no better place to live than in a city."

A smaller proportion of women express the desire to live in the nation's largest cities. "Women are less drawn to big cities," says Robert Lang, co-director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech. "It could be safety."

Wanting to live outside cities doesn't necessarily mean people reject urban lifestyles, however. The appeal of developments with an urban flair — ones that combine housing, stores and offices in a neighborhood setting — is growing.

Brianna Fahey lives in a city the survey says an overwhelming majority of Americans would prefer not to live in: Cincinnati. Like many other large Midwestern and Northeastern cities, Cincinnati ranks near the bottom on people's lists of ideal spots.

For Fahey, 30, Cincinnati is truly home. She grew up in North College Hill, a suburb where her parents and friends still live, but bought a downtown condo after college. She gets by without a car in a city that has few mass transit options. "I like the self-sufficiency of the city," she says. "It's a good place to be in all stages of life."

[jtwestside]

TOP (AND BOTTOM) DRAWS
 
I'm actually surprised by Orlando. I’d like to see the demographic breakdown of the folks who wanted to live there.
Percentage of Americans who say they want to live in this city or metropolitan area:

Most popular             Least popular
 
Denver: 43%             Detroit: 8%
 
San Diego: 40%        Cleveland: 10%
 
Seattle: 38%            Cincinnati: 13%
 
Orlando: 34%             Kansas City: 15%
 
Tampa: 34%              Minneapolis: 16%
 
San Francisco:34%     Pittsburgh: 17%
 
Source: Pew Research Center
 

 

[thelakelander]

I guess something must be wrong with me.  I turned down a higher paying job opportunity in Orlando to take one in Jacksonville six years ago.  Excluding weather issues, I also think Minneapolis and Pittsburgh would be decent cities to live in.

[Ocklawaha]

(With appologys to little Grace)

ODE TO MICKEY...

Her neon mouth with the blinking soft smile
Is nothing but an electric sign
You could say she has an individual style
She's part of a colorful time

Super-sealed city, chrome-color clothes
You wear 'cause you have no other
But I suppose no one knows
You're my plastic ORLANDO lover

Your rattlin' cough never shuts off
Is nothin' but a used machine
Your aluminum finish, slightly diminished
Is the best I ever have seen

Cosmetic baby plugged into me
And never ever find another
And I realize no one's wise
To my plastic ORLANDO lover

The electrical dust is starting to rust
Her trapezoid thermometer taste
All the red tape is mechanical rape
Of the TV program waste

Data control and IBM
Science is mankind's brother
But all I see is drainin' me
On my plastic ORLANDO lover

OCKLAWAHA
Guess I'm sick too Lake because I wouldn't trade a block of 5-Points/Avondale/San Marco/Ortega/San Jose or even Springfield to live anywhere East of Haines City.

[tufsu1]

nothing's wrong with you Lake...I'll bet that most of the people who said they wanted to live in Orlando have never been outside of the Disney/I-Drive area....and of course weather is a major factor....which is why cities in the South and West did better than those in the Northeast and Midwest

[David]

I guess something must be wrong with me.  I turned down a higher paying job opportunity in Orlando to take one in Jacksonville six years ago.  Excluding weather issues, I also think Minneapolis and Pittsburgh would be decent cities to live in.

I also thought that about Pittsburgh after my stay there. It really does get overlooked and some people seem to have an outdated perception of what the city really is.

It's compact and dense, not sprawl crazy.  It has respect for it's history and great food. and! it's cheap too. If my roots weren't so deep here i'd consider it as a relocation choice.

This message brought to you by the Pittsburgh chamber of commerce and tourism

[ProjectMaximus]

The Coasts Are Tops as California and New York City Are Most Popular Places People Would Choose to Live, According to Latest Harris Poll

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=805

I think this is the most recent Harris Poll on this subject (it's from Sept 2007). The survey asked if you could live in any state/city EXCEPT the one you live in now, which would you choose?

[ProjectMaximus]

Article straight from Pew offers its own analysis on the poll: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1096/community-satisfaction-top-cities